On 19 January, Bonhams will be holding an auction of Islamic and Indian art, including thirty lots of contemporary Middle Eastern and South Asian art, at their Knightsbridge branch. Covering a wide range of materials and cultures, ranging from eighth century Persia to modern-day India, via Mamluk Egypt, Ottoman Turkey and Pahlavi Iran, this is a very good selection of works at very reasonable prices. The lowest-valued piece (a large oil painting of the Qajar ruler Mohammad Shah) is estimated at £50-80, while even the most expensive item (a nineteenth century Ottoman carved-wood ceiling) should go for as little as £6-8000. From the Islamic art on offer, highlights include a fourteenth century Mamluk Qur'an leaf written in elegant naskhi script (on the cover of the catalogue above, est'd £8-1200), an Iznik dish of circa 1600 (below, est'd £2-3000), and the wooden ceiling mentioned previously. Of the paintings on offer, Nazlı Ecevit's lovely view of a city (bottom, est'd £4-600) might be of some interest to Arts Diary readers; not only was she the mother of Bülent Ecevit, but she was also a well-respected painter whose works regularly come up at auctions in Turkey and abroad. This is an excellent opportunity to purchase a fine example of her work for a modest sum. To see the online catalogue, please click here. 
